The Philippine government plans to borrow from the World Bank to address the problem of plastic waste in Metro Manila.

A concept environmental and social review summary (ESRS) disclosed on Jan. 30 showed that the Philippines is seeking World Bank financing for the proposed $1.072-billion Clean Metro Manila project.

The document has yet to disclose the amount of investment project financing (IPF) or concessional loan to be extended by the Washington-based multilateral lender, as well as how much the government will shell out as counterpart funding for this project.

The World Bank is targeting loan approval on Nov. 27, 2026.

To be jointly implemented by the departments of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as well as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the project aims to “improve solid waste management, including reducing plastic pollution in selected local government units (LGUs) across the National Capital Region (NCR) of the Philippines.”

The World Bank said the first phase of the Clean Philippines multiphase programmatic approach will cover Metro Manila, encompassing all 17 LGUs in the capital region, and will be led by the MMDA with support from the DENR and the DILG.

The project will focus on strengthening policies and institutions, improving local service delivery and waste infrastructure, advancing plastic waste management for a circular economy, and promoting innovation and public awareness to improve solid waste management and reduce plastic pollution in the NCR, the lender said.

The document noted that Metro Manila is “one of the country’s solid waste management hotspots.”

“Solid waste management issues in the country and in Metro Manila show a distinctive pattern: increasing waste volumes projected at 23.6 million tons by 2025, especially organic waste and plastics; poor waste disposal methods; declining waste management capacities; and low plastic processing capacity,” the World Bank said.

The lender noted that solid waste management infrastructure investments in Philippine urban areas face major challenges due to land shortages, health and safety risks in blighted communities, and differing fiscal priorities among LGUs.

While informal waste workers (IWWs) divert about 32 percent of plastics and other recyclable materials from landfills, they remain marginalized in solid waste management planning, as barangays—tasked with waste collection—are constrained by limited funding and a lack of collection trucks, leaving informal settlements only partly served by waste services, it added.

As Manila Bulletin earlier reported, the World Bank reported last December that the Philippines is among the world’s leading contributors to marine plastic pollution, with nearly nine percent of its mismanaged plastic waste ending up in the ocean each year.